This week protests in the Ukraine and Thailand threaten the stability of those two governments, while the next government of Honduras is up in the air following last month’s contested elections. Drone footage, protest videos, and international observers bring us images of those and other human rights stories.

Egypt

On November 26th, a new Egyptian law effectively barring all protests was put to the test when activists held a rally in front of the Shura Council, where the new constitution is being drafted, to voice their opposition to military trials for civilians. As seen in this video, police fired water cannons and charged at protesters. A group of female detainees including renowned activist Mona Sheif, report that they were taken into the desert by authorities and left there (report). This latest video by Mosireen features names and faces of those who were arrested at the protest. On Sunday, the panel drafting Egypt’s new constitution voted to retain military trials for civilians in certain cases.

Ukraine

As protests in the Ukraine exceeded an estimated one million people this weekend calling for the prime minister’s resignation, we’re watching the streets through the eyes of participants. Online videos document violent confrontations between protesters and riot police, which left dozens of civilians injured by Sunday night. In this video, police can be seen kicking people on the ground. The filmer claims that the police attacked him after filming the protest.

Honduras

Thousands of voters marched through the Honduran capital this weekend in support of opposition presidential candidate, Xiomara Castro. Castro and her supporters claim the election was marked with fraud. A high level of political violence and intimidation has pervaded the country since the 2009 coup. This video tells the story of two Campesino leaders who were assassinated the day before the vote after attending a training on election monitoring.

Angola

Many Muslims living in Angola are claiming that the government is at war with Islam, pointing as evidence to the destruction of mosques. That’s what the uploader of this video claims it shows. We have yet to verify the date of the activity and location of the building in the video, which is referenced in this Global Voices article.

Thailand

An anti-government protest movement has escalated in the past week. A series of videos taken from a drone flying over Bangkok captured an aerial view of Sunday’s protest, in which authorities deployed teargas and water cannons. According to the latest reports, three protesters were shot dead.

The most recent citizen videos of human rights issues can always be found on our Citizen Watch and Watching Advocacy video playlists. Both are updated daily.

One thought on “Human Rights Channel Weekly Update: Protests in Ukraine and Thailand”

Hey everybody.
Those Ukrainians think protests are good. But no no no, they only think for Western benefits. They forget what are happening in Saudi and Uzbekistan, two pro-American dictatorship killers!
Want to explain? You will see.